Daggers of Darkness (book)
:For other uses of '''Daggers of Darkness', see'' Daggers of Darkness Daggers of Darkness is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Luke Sharp, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1988 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 35th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-032675-8). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Scholastic series. Creation Background - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)}} The book begins with the player being attacked by an assassin and scratched by a Death Spell Dagger. The player must travel to the Great Throne to defeat the Evil Chingiz, handing back the dagger to defeat its magic. This book features the second appearance of the wizard Astragal, who is a recurring character in Luke Sharp's books. The player must collect Medallions during this adventure. The player must go through trials to obtain these. Like many of Luke Sharp's books, there is a large emphasis on random dice rolls, obtaining one of the Medallions even involves a kind of board game. How to Fight the Creatures of Kazan The book in general follows the original rules set down in ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Unique Rules *''Daggers of Darkness'' features the attribute of poison which marks the spread of the poison from the Death Spell Dagger. On the Character Sheet this is represented by a human figure divided into 24 units. Throughout the game the player is instructed to mark off these units to show the spread of the poison, and all 24 units shaded represents death at the hands of the poison. In effect this is simply another way of measuring time during the playing of the game. - pg.16 *The game also features several Medallions which can be collected. A player who possesses one can walk away from a total of 3 combat encounters that they have lost. If the player chooses to do this (instead of dying at the hands of their combatant and restarting the adventure from the beginning) the player can restore their stamina score to 4, as well as reducing their skill and luck scores by 1 point each, and marking off 3 poison units. - pg.16-17 Equipment List - pg.14-15 *Sword *Leather Armour *Backpack *10 Provisions *6 Gold Coins (one sewn into heel of boot) - pg.17 *Death Spell Dagger - pg.23 *Choice of one of three Potions (see Game System for generic fantasy setting choices) Cover and Illustrations Cover The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Les Edwards. Illustrations The interior illustrations were by Martin McKenna. There were 30 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 114, 130, 143, 155, 172, 187, 200, 215, 230, 245, 260, 270, 285, 298, 310, 322, 334, 346, 358, 370, 381, and 396. The colour map on the inside front cover was by Leo Hartas. Intertextual References *Astragal from Chasms of Malice returns, the region of Kazan in Khul being the area directly to the west of Gorak which is where Chasms of Malice was set. Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of Daggers of Darkness *Adana-Broussah *Aggellatha *Alkis Fearslicer *Astragal *Beshbalik *Bhoriss Canterstrike *Bithymian Vetch *Chingiz - Vizier *Chogum *Drukkah *Eleonora *Flaxwort *Geronicus *Mandrake Wolfsbane *Meghan-na-Durr *Omorphina *Segrek *Sigismuh - Necromancer *Urgenj *Zaranj Locations *Bogomil *Bogomil Deeps *''Dead Man's Chest'' *Drago's Gate *Gorak *Greater Ilkhans *Hulugu *Kazan *Kazilik *Kelther *Khul *Korkut *Lesser Ilkhans *Mavra Khomata *Owlshriek Forest *River Dart *River Djimatos *River Swordflow *Sharrabbas *Torrez *Uruz *Yigenik Encounters *Black Bull *Bollema *Bonecrusher *Dark Elf *Dark Monster *Dark Warrior *Dungeon Delvers *Elkiem *Fangtigers *Gargoyle *Giant Spider *Gnarled Oak *Goblins - Marsh/Regular *Gremlins *Greyeagles *Grypfalcon *Gryphawk *Grypvulture *Hellhounds *Horned Devil *Humans - Bandits/Marauders/Ruffians/Yigenik Rider *Kazalik Dragons *Kazanid Guards *Khomatad *Lifesucker *Mamlik Assassin *Maze Fiends *Maze Warrior *Minotaurs - Regular/Uruz *Necromancers *Ogres *Orcs - Executioner/Guardian/Regular/Sniffer *Panthers *Screecher *Skuluggi *Snow Leech *Trolls - Bandit/Regular/Stone *Urgenj *Wolfhounds *Zizzadek Further Notes *This is the last gamebook till Deathmoor to offer the player one of the three generic potions at the start of the adventure. Errors *(179) should say to deduct 3 stamina points for using Treffilli instead of 1. *You can't know how to use Treffilli in (243), so (10) is unreachable. This leaves just two places where you can use it, meaning you can exhaust no more than half of your original supply; yet there are three places where you can acquire more Treffilli, one of them on a path where you can't know how to use it. *You can't have Darkfight in (317). You can't not have Darkfight in (3) or (135). And those are all the fights that reference Darkfight, so the book shouldn't ever have to ask if you have it! Dedication To the Return of the Hero with help from Colin Meikle Michael Bishop Karl Johan Durr Sorenson and A.I.B. - pg.5 See Also Reviews External Links *Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=79 Daggers of Darkness at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20051127132124/www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb35.htm Daggers of Darkness at the Internet Archive record of the old] Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26 References Category:1988 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series